The Protector
by PhoebeColeTurnerHalliwell
Summary: Eight-year-old Prue remembers the promise she made to her mother to always look out for her sisters. One-shot.


A/N: Just a little something that came to me the other day. Hope everyone likes it!

* * *

Eight-year-old Prue sat on a rock by the ocean, staring out into the ocean. She, Grams, and her younger sisters had just arrived from their mother's funeral. Grams hoped that the waves, and the sand would take their minds off of everything they had just lost, but so far it wasn't working. At least for Prue.

She saw Grams down near the ocean, holding three-year-old Phoebe's hands as Phoebe laughed and tried to jump as the waves hit her feet. She was too young to know just what she had lost. She knew, but she didn't understand. Prue envied that about her. She was too young to feel the loss; the pain.

Six-year-old Piper was in the sand, making a sand castle. She had begged Prue to help her when they first got there, but Prue just shook her head and walked over to the rocks, her only solace in being alone.

Prue didn't like the ocean; not anymore. Not after it had been what had killed her mommy in the first place. She didn't tell Grams that, though. She wanted Grams to think that her distraction was working. But the truth was that it was killing her.

Mommy had always been there; right after Daddy left, when she lost her first tooth, her first day of kindergarten. Prue remembered being so scared that day. Daddy had been with them then. She remembered that Daddy held three-year-old Piper, who was crying that she couldn't stay with Prue. Phoebe was home with Phoebe since she had only been a baby then, and the crying might upset the other kids in her class.

* * *

_"Why can't you stay with me?" Prue had asked, tears forming in her eyes._

_Mommy had knelt down beside her, holding her hands tightly. "Because mommies and daddies can't stay with you. You have to be a big girl now. I promise that you are going to make tons of friends. In fact, once you get in there, you're going to have so much fun that you won't want to come home!"_

_Prue smiled, feeling better. She had been so happy that her mommy was there to comfort her. Mommy was always there for her when she was scared._

_That made Mommy smile wide and embrace her in a warm hug. "That's my big girl."_

* * *

Tears fell silently down Prue's cheek as she remembered that day. Mommy always made her feel better. Now, she never would again.

She remembered the day Mommy brought Phoebe home from the hospital.

* * *

_"Mommy, mommy, you're home!" Five-year-old Prue had bounded down the stairs and was about to wrap her arms around her mommy's leg when Mommy backed away from her._

_"Prue, be careful! I'm holding your new sister!"_

_Prue looked up at her in confusion. She hadn't understood why hugging her mommy would affect the baby, and Mommy just walked away into the living room._

_Grams had met them in there, followed by three-year-old Piper, who always wanted to know what was going on with everyone. They were all staring at the new baby with such adoration. Prue immediately felt jealous._

_ She had been about to ask Mommy to play with her, when Mommy turned to Prue._

_"Prue, come here. Say hello to your new baby sister!"_

_Prue didn't want to, but she did what she was told and sauntered over to Mommy. She reluctantly looked at the baby, and when she did, all angry thoughts left her._

_"Do you want to hold her?" Mommy asked, and Prue looked up at her, shocked that she would actually let her._

_"Can I?" Prue asked, eyes wide with hope._

_Mommy smiled and nodded. "Just sit beside me and I'll hand her to you."_

_Prue jumped up on the couch, excited, and Mommy carefully laid her sister on her lap._

_"Her name is Phoebe," Mommy told her, and motioned for Piper to join them._

_Piper stood in front of Prue, stroking Phoebe's head carefully. "Can I hold her next?" Piper begged._

_Mommy had shaken her head. "No, sweetie. I'm afraid you're too young."_

_Piper had started crying, declaring that she was old enough to hold her, and Prue felt a surge of pride that Mommy trusted her enough._

_Mommy had leaned in closer to Prue and said, "You're her big sister, so I want you to look out for her, watch her and protect her. Can you do that?"_

_Prue nodded. "Yes, Mommy. I'll watch over them both. I promise."_

* * *

Now, hours after Mommy's funeral, Prue remembered her promise.

She turned her head upwards toward the sky. "I'll watch over them, Mommy. I promise. I won't let you down."

Then she looked once again at her sisters. Piper totally engrossed in her sand-castle, and Phoebe playing in the waves and laughing with Grams.

Prue realized that Mommy wasn't there to watch them having fun. She wouldn't be there for Phoebe's first day of kindergarten; she wouldn't be there to console Piper when the other kids picked on her at school.

And she wouldn't be there for Prue to go to with her problems, or her heartaches. She wouldn't come in and whisper 'goodnight' in her ear at the middle of the night when she thought Prue was still asleep. She wouldn't be there to see them grow up.

As Prue turned away from them, she remembered the day her mommy had left her forever.

* * *

_They were up at Lake Skylark. Mommy had taken Prue as a special day out, just them too. Piper and Phoebe were back home with Grams, jealous that they couldn't go with. Prue was glad that they were home. They always kept Mommy's attention for themselves._

_Prue had wanted to go swimming, but Mommy wouldn't let her. She said that it was too dangerous._

_"But Mommy, I've had swimming lessons! Why can't I go in?" she cried._

_"Listen to your mother, Prue. She knows what she's talking about," a man's voice said from behind her._

_At first Prue had thought that it was Daddy, and turned around happily to hug him. But when she turned around, she saw a strange man who looked a little older than Daddy looking at her with concern._

_"Who are you?" Prue asked, inching her way closer to Mommy._

_The man stole a glance at Mommy before answering. "I'm just a friend. But you need to listen to your mommy and not go swimming. Can you do that?"_

_Prue looked up at Mommy, and she smiled and nodded. Then Prue looked back at the man, and nodded reluctantly._

_Luckily Prue hadn't seen the man for the rest of the day; at least not when she was with Mommy. To take Prue's mind off the lake, they had went up to the cabin to visit Mrs. Johnson and they talked. Mrs. Johnson had baked cookies._

_Mommy had later asked Mrs. Johnson to watch over Prue while she went to take care of some business._

_"Can't I come?" Prue begged._

_"No, sweetie. This is something I have to do by myself. When I'm done, though, maybe we can go swimming."_

_Prue's face had lighted up at that. "Promise?"_

_Mommy nodded and touched her hand to her cheek. "I promise. You be good for Mrs. Johnson, okay?"_

_"Okay, Mommy. I love you."_

_"I love you too, sweetie. I'll see you in a little bit."_

_Prue had nodded, promising her mother, then watched as she left the cabin. Then she decided to wait patiently for her Mommy to return._

_Only she never did._

_An hour passed, then two. Prue wanted to know what was taking Mommy so long, but didn't want to ask Mrs. Johnson in case she bothered her. So she waited. And waited. And waited._

_Finally, once the sun was starting to set, Mrs. Johnson received a knock at the door. It had been a policeman._

_"Mrs. Johnson?" he asked._

_"Yes," the woman replied._

_The man looked down. Something was wrong, Prue could feel it._

_"I-I'm afraid I have some bad news." Then he turned to see Prue standing a couple of feet by the door. "Are you Prue?" he asked._

_Prue nodded, curious as to how he knew her name._

_The officer walked in and sat down on the sofa uninvited. But Mrs. Johnson didn't say anything. Prue sensed that she already knew what the officer had to say, judging from the sad look on her face._

_"Prue, I have something to tell you."_

_"What?" she asked, wondering what a police officer had to say to her._

_"This isn't easy...Prue, you're mommy...well she had an accident."_

_Prue looked up at Mrs. Johnson. "An accident?" she asked._

_The officer nodded, and Prue thought she saw tears in his eyes. "Yes. I'm afraid...Prue, your mommy drowned."_

_Prue felt like a ton of bricks hit her chest. What he was saying couldn't be true. He had to be joking. Her mommy wouldn't have drowned; she had told Prue to stay away from the water. Why would she have gone swimming without her?_

_"Did you hear what I just said?" the officer asked, looking into her eyes, searching for understanding._

_Prue nodded. "Yeah, mister. I heard. But I don't believe you. Mommy can't be dead. She can't be," she said with certainty, though she didn't believe herself._

_The officer bit his lip, looking heartbroken. The next thing Prue knew, the man had scooped her up in a hug, and Prue let him, too shocked to fight it._

_Later he left, and Prue followed him outside. There were more officers out, taking pictures and putting up yellow police tape._

_Prue just wanted to find her mommy._

_She walked along the pier, then searched the beach, desperate to see her one last time. She finally spotted her lying down on the dock. She walked over to her, dodging all the officers in her way. When she got there, they were zipping her up in a black bag. This confused her. Why would they put Mommy in a bag?_

_One of the officers looked up, and when he saw Prue standing there, he said, "Get her out of here. She doesn't need to see her mother like this."_

_Another officer picked her up and led her off the dock, but Prue didn't want him to. She was just wanted to be with her mother. Couldn't they see that?_

_But she didn't fight it. "Mommy!" she yelled, hoping desperately that Mommy would stand up and walk over to her and tell her that this had all just been some mistake._

_But she never did._

_Grams came moments after that; tears in her eyes. This scared Prue a little because she had never seen her grandmother cry before. Not even when Daddy left._

_She had taken Prue home and Prue helped her break the news to Piper and Phoebe. Piper cried uncontrollably, but Phoebe just asked, "When Mommy coming home?" As though she didn't understand what Grams was saying._

_Grams didn't answer. She stood up and walked away, crying again and not wanting them to see._

_Prue picked her three-year-old sister up and rocked her, trying her hardest to do it the way Mommy did._

* * *

Prue stood up and left the rock, knowing Mommy wouldn't want her to leave her sisters alone with their grief. It wasn't what big sisters did.

She went to sit next to Piper. "I'll help you with your sand castle if you want," she said.

Piper's eyes lit up and she handed Prue a shovel and a bucket. "Here! You can make the towers."

Prue nodded, glad she decided to be with Piper. Mommy would've wanted her to be with them.

At that moment Phoebe ran at them. She lost her footing and tripped, falling right into Piper's sand castle.

"Phoebe, look what you did!" Piper cried, angry. She looked like she was about to hit their baby sister, but Prue put a hand on Piper's shoulders, stopping her.

"No, Piper. Don't."

Piper bit her lip, thinking it over, but didn't.

"Me want to help!" Phoebe declared, picking up Prue's shovel. Normally Prue would've scolded Phoebe for taking what she had been using, but she didn't. Instead she nodded.

"Okay, Phoebe. You can help me make the towers, if you want."

Phoebe looked ecstatic, and Prue smiled. She helped Phoebe put sand into the bucket, and helped Piper remake the small part of the castle. Every now and then she would see Grams laying in the sand, watching them with a smile on her face.

Then she turned her head to the sky, hoping that maybe she would see Mommy in the sky. Even though she didn't, she could feel her presence around her and her sisters, and knew she was watching over them.

That made her believe that everything would turn out okay.


End file.
